Discount Char-Broil 36,000 BTU 3-Burner Gas Grill, 522 Square Inch with Side

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $229.00
Sale Price: $149.00
Today's Bonus: 35% Off

Pros:

Thermometer

Three independent burners

Tool Storage

Easy propane tank attachment

Price

Excellent customer service

Cons:

Structurally deficient, see photo

Cosmetic damage

Defective Ignitor, not true see edit *

I started looking for a new gas grill late summer 2011. I had problems with ground squirrels getting into my grill and tools. All I could find at various big boxes were monster contraptions costing many 100's of $$$. So when the 463722311, catchy model name, showed up on one of the bargain sites for $94 shipped, I jumped on it.

THE GRILL:

Fundamentally this is a very solid gas grill with flaws in design of the support frame and numerous quality issues getting a perfect product to the customer. The basic gas grill was preassembled and it slid into the frame you assembled from the many parts using a well-illustrated manual. Both the top and bottom of the firebox were heavy gauge steel shells. The burners, tent flame shields, upper wire shelf and grill racks are then inserted inside the shells, all exhibiting a been there done that before professionalism. All the steel pieces were coated in porcelain, easy to clean and durable. I've yet to fully master all the subtleties of grilling on the 463722311, but I'm convinced that with the thermometer and 3-burners it won't take me long.

* Since I started using the 463722311 2-months ago I've grilled steaks, chicken, brats and burgers at least twice each and the combination of the three independent burners and the thermometer allows repeatable control. Some things just need fast grilling whereas other need baking. I always grill in the center with a single grate, this allows me to move the grilled item over the flame tent, away from direct flame. I then adjust the outer burners for the interior temperature. Easier to do than explain.

STRUCTURE:

The frame that supports the firebox lacked basic structural elements to prevent parallelogram collapse on the right side. A simple triangular brace is all that would be required. Instead, Char-Broil wasted three pieces of wire to exclude a propane tank from being placed under the firebox. Any of those three wires could have braced the frame from collapse. I added a steel strap, crude but functional, see photo.

DAMAGE:

The grill had numerous dents, dings and bends in many of the thin gauge steel parts. The worst dent was in the upper firebox shell. It had a large dent from the inside out. It's as if someone took a ball peen hammer with full force struck the shell. The dent fractured the porcelain coating inside and out. In addition, the control panel was heavily scuffed in the right corner leaving a thumb size area with the paint removed. Everything was well packaged in cardboard and/or Styrofoam. The outer carton had almost no damage when it arrived. None of the packaging material showed any damage. All this leads me to believe that the damage occurred prior to shipment and were packaged that way by Char-Broil.

IGNITOR:

The piezo crystal push button ignitor didn't work. I saw one blue spark in one hundred attempts. I used the interactive PDF ignition questionnaire and ended up at the 800 number. I called customer service and except for the accessory up selling the process was smooth and painless. New ignitor should arrive in a week. Installing it into the tight space above the gas manifold will be non-trivial.

* After receiving the replacement ignitor which also didn't work, I figured out the problem. I assumed that the ignitor had two parallel circuits for the side and main burners . . . wrong. The two electrodes are in series. By not installing the side burner, I defeated the ignitor function, I should have grounded the side burner wire to the frame.

MORE:

While the 463722311 has no designed in tool storage, I had no need for a side burner, so I converted that compartment into tool storage, see photo. I purchased a 1/8" pipe plug to block the gas port for the side burner. The propane tank has a hook and v-notch attachment over the axle, quick and simple.

I deducted 2 stars for the defective ignitor, weak structure and all the damage. The 463722311 could have easily earned 5 stars except for those problems. My spell checker likes igniter, but Char-Broil spells it ignitor in their manual?

*Edit 2-15-12 I bumped my rating one star.

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I shopped around for quite a while for my grill. The problem I had were all the negative reviews. It did not seem to matter which grill I looked at, I would find some horrific tale of woe. I finally gave up and told my wife and daughter to surprise me. This was the choice and I have used it almost every day for a week straight. It is a terrific grill. It cleans up easy and I have never had food come off so evenly cooked. I am not a technical guy. I'm a writer. I don't know specs or anything else. What I do know is that it works great, looks nice and, and is plenty sturdy for big racks of ribs and such.

Best Deals for Char-Broil 36,000 BTU 3-Burner Gas Grill, 522 Square Inch with Side

The only issue we have had so far with the grill is that it came in damaged. We didn't realize the full extent of the damage until it was already completely assembled. The parts were bent but we bent them back with pliers but the big issue was that the igniter button had to be put back together and that part of the grill is bent in so hopefully it will still work. Otherwise it is an awesome looking grill! I will put up an update if the grill will not ignite due to the shipping damage.

Update!

The grill works like a dream despite the cosmetic issues. This is a great grill for the price! It works very well and lives up to my high standards after owning a Weber grill!

Honest reviews on Char-Broil 36,000 BTU 3-Burner Gas Grill, 522 Square Inch with Side

Item arrived in PERFECT condition! I was concerned about that, because of the MANY reviews where customers said they experienced damaged parts. I thought it was extremely securely packaged for utmost protection.So,they may have addressed that issue. The grill size is PERFECT for us (2)seniors, but would serve equally as well for a family of 5 or a gathering of 8 with little effort. The directions were very explicite, both in word & picture, thus no problem putting together as long as you FOLLOW the numerical steps! The 3 burners allows the choice for cooking for 2 or multiple, utilizing the propane most efficiently. Every meat we have cooked has been perfectly evenly & thoroughly cooked, coming out tasty(per ur seasoning)tender, & that stay warm rack is really helpful. The grill surface is 2 easy to remove panels to make it extremely easy to keep clean. we even put them in the dishwasher. The ONLY negative is when moving the grill, but I think most are this way. The wheels make moving easy enough, but there is no specific handle to use to lift the non-wheel end to move, you lift by the serving tray, which would make it awkward moving it any distance or rough terrain..But ours lives in one spot, & is of no consequence to us, whatsoever! For the price, I have no issue highly recommending this item very confidently!

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Char-Broil 36,000 BTU 3-Burner Gas Grill, 522 Square Inch with Side

My husband and I purchased this grill on July 3rd and yes, it was an impulse buy because we did not want to ruin a good steak on the 4th. I had been looking for two month unsure which grill to get so we settled on the Char-Broil 36,000 BTU 3-Burner Gas Grill, 522 Square Inch with Side Burner. Got it home the legs did not fit on the cart, we called the company they said they would send out the correct legs no charge. Then we went to fire it up and the igniter did not work but we lived with that because we had been do a manual light with the old grill for years. We had to heat the grill up to burn off the factory coating, when my husband went to open the lid he also got 2nd degree burns on his handswe had to use the "Ove-Glove" to open and close the lid. When we called the company, they said there was nothing they could except to use a mitt when touching the grill. Finally, we were cooking for the 3rd time and the warming tray above the grill folded down onto itself sliding what I had on the tray onto the grill itself. The last straw was the fact the grill did not cook the food any better than the old grill we have had for well over 20years. I say do not buy this grill. We returned to the store that we had purchased at and for an additional $200 hundred dollars we purchased a Weber, the lesson we learned is to not to rush into a purchase.